A Noble Berean

In this series, I'm examining some things that Calvinists (especially my ex-pastor) say about predestination.   Here's the whole series on my other blog:  the pastor's sermons  ("When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'"), and my comments  1-4 (election)  and  5-6 (Romans and sovereignty)  and  7-9 (depravity, Book of Life, predestine)  and  10-11 (shaming tactics, Feb. 2015)  and  12-14 (dead, regeneration, born again)  and  15 (total depravity, manipulation)   and  16A (God's Will, babies)  and  16B (sin, evil, suffering)  and  17 (double-speak and the gospel) . Seventh:    In his February 2016 sermon, our Calvinist pastor said " Because our human nature is corrupted by sin, because our depravity has permeated us to the core, unbelievers cannot grasp God's truth clearly."   This echoes the Calvinist use of verses like  1 Corinthians 2:14 :  "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, fo

In this series, I'm examining some things that Calvinists (especially my ex-pastor) say about predestination.   Here's the whole series on my other blog:  the pastor's sermons  ("When Calvinists say 'But predestination!'"), and my comments  1-4 (election)  and  5-6 (Romans and sovereignty)  and  7-9 (depravity, Book of Life, predestine)  and  10-11 (shaming tactics, Feb. 2015)  and  12-14 (dead, regeneration, born again)  and  15 (total depravity, manipulation)   and  16A (God's Will, babies)  and  16B (sin, evil, suffering)  and  17 (double-speak and the gospel) . Fifth:   Like this pastor does, Calvinists  constantly -  all the time, over and over again, in every sermon on this topic - quote  Romans 9:18:   “Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.”   They love this verse and the word “hardens.”    They say it means that God decides who will go to heaven and who won’t, and that He hardens those w